Answer to Question 1
Under the NLRA a lockout is illegal when it is shown to be antiunion or due to hostility to collective bargaining obligations. If it is an effort to protect the operating or business needs of the employer, it is legal.
Answer to Question 2
In the absence of independent evidence showing unlawful motive, the Court held that the Board could not infer anything other than that important business ends occasioned the lockout of employees, as the employer contended.
